Arctic Spa, Marq Epic, HS Envoy & SD Maxxus Review

[O-Ren_Ishi_I]

I am going to do a wet test this weekend, now my concern is that I don't really have any testomonies of arctic spas...  

Can somebody help and to clear it up, the model I am most interested in is the Arctic frontier luxury extreme... edition...

please let me know... thanks in advance

[Tman122]

You are right. There's a whole lot of Arctic bragging, and this is the best out there, and this spa reins superior over all the rest. But you never see much after the purchase. After all that bragging what would you expect a year or so down the road other than this is a great spa. Do you think any one would come back here and say, well I though it was going to be far superior than the rest but turns out it is about the same as 10-15 other brands.  

[Brewman]

Most of the posts concerning Arctic spas on this board are from sales people.  Best thing to do is check them out just as you do the other brands, don't get swayed by the hype (holds true for any sales pitch), and be prepared- they seem to be on the high end of the price spectrum.  
Brewman

[JcDenton]

I've had my Arctic for almost a year. I am very happy with it so far.


Jc

[fletch49]

I bought the Arctic Cub, last year. It's been a great tub..zero problems.  

I think all of these Arctic Spa dealers that make all of these false, over the top claims that I keep hearing about must of stopped frequenting this site. All I ever see is non-arctic spa owners talking about these aggressive AS dealers, however, I never actually see them on this site? In the last six months I've read one silly comment from a AS salesguy in Brampton, Ontario. In my opinion, that hardly justifies the harsh criticism I see. Perhaps I've missed a few?

What I do hear is positive feedback from actual AS owners.

Let us know how the wet test goes!

[JcDenton]

Unfortunately, the only attention that Arctic gets here is usually from new-time posters with a hidden agenda that doesn't remain hidden for long.

It's very curious as well as interesting to watch. Most of these posters have a pretty short shelf-life and dissappear quickly.

[stuart]

Unfortunately, the only attention that Arctic gets here is usually from new-time posters with a hidden agenda that doesn't remain hidden for long.

It's very curious as well as interesting to watch. Most of these posters have a pretty short shelf-life and dissappear quickly.

Amen to that! I find that it's pretty aggressive and obnoxious also!

James Keirstead, one of the Principle's with the company follows these boards and is pretty professional how he posts and answers questions. My issue is that I quite sure that he can figure out who the negative posters from his group are and probably knows but allows them to continue with their rhetoric.

He had a guy posting from Colorado under the name nelg that was just rude! I’ve often asked if this trickles down from the company philosophy of selling?

In the end I would say that it is probably a decent product but still needs to be proven with time but I would avoid them simply for the scare tactics and negative way of selling.

[JcDenton]

I don't think Arctic has been manufacturing spas the way they do long enough to know what issues with surface over time....

Curious - what do you think the probationary period for any new spa manufacturer should be then?

Jc

[bosco0633]

well I am going to give you my two cents.  I purchased an arctic tundra and I am awaiting delivery.  

I love the tub and the feel when wet tested.  I will stop here because thats all that matters.

This crap about best heat bills, hardest top on the market and all the other bs that is associated makes arctic have a bad reputation.

It is a TP tub if you are ok with that then thats a bonuse.  Price wise, I find people saying that it is to much but compared to prices around here it is in ballpark with all top brands.

Sales staff, some are good, but you get some real crazy sales guys that have been brain washed by the company and they just look rediculous and ignorant.

I have heard nothing but positive feedback on the service end of the tub and everyone that has one does not have any negative coments.

I disagree with the last comment made.  Dont stay away because of poor selling practices.  If that was the case most of us would not buy any brand.  The bottom line is that it is a business and everyone wants your money, how they go about getting it....well thats a different story.  Stay informed and learn as much as you can so that you can say that you bought the best tub for you.  

Good luck

[fletch49]

I don't think a few aggressive and obnoxious salesman represent the way the entire company conduct business. Unless, of course, you sell Looney Spas

I have 4 dealerships within 1.5 hours of me, and having visited three of the four before my purchase, I certainly didn't get that vib.

[stuart]

Curious - what do you think the probationary period for any new spa manufacturer should be then?

Jc

I think it has less to do with the probationary period of how long the product holds up and more to do with justifying the claims of superiority....

You can just as easily state "We manufacture this way because we see it being sensible or we believe it to be revolutionary" as you can state "We have proven ourselves with best with energy studies and everyone else is wrong for doing it the way they do." or how about "If you buy another brand you will get pests and critters in the base because they don't do it like us" lets add "we insulate how your house is insulated" WRONG! My house has insulation completely encasing the plumbing!

It's all about the selling...

In many ways I admire Arctic just as I do ThermoSpas for their drive, ambition and creativeness, I just feel that they have let corners be cut ethically along the way to make money and grow. They certainly aren’t the only ones....

IMO, the probation should be placed on the ability to state the claims not the company itself.

[JcDenton]

Fair enough.

You can just as easily state "We manufacture this way because we see it being sensible or we believe it to be revolutionary" as you can state "We have proven ourselves with best with energy studies and everyone else is wrong for doing it the way they do." or how about "If you buy another brand you will get pests and critters in the base because they don't do it like us" lets add "we insulate how your house is insulated" WRONG! My house has insulation completely encasing the plumbing!

For the record, I never received any of this at any time of during my shopping experience. In fact, when my dealer (Arctic) knew that it was either him or Beachcomber, there was no effort what-so-ever to slag the competition. In fact, he quite agreed that they make a good product.

It came down to feel and price. We felt better on both counts with Arctic. IMO only.



Jc

[stuart]

Fair enough.



For the record, I never received any of this at any time of during my shopping experience. In fact, when my dealer (Arctic) knew that it was either him or Beachcomber, there was no effort what-so-ever to slag the competition. In fact, he quite agreed that they make a good product.

It came down to feel and price. We felt better on both counts with Arctic. IMO only.

Jc

I commend your dealer for that and he deserves every sale he gets...That does not seem to be the "norm" for Arctic dealers.

My hope is that you and I are both still posting 6 to 7 years from now and can compare spas then.

[JcDenton]

My hope is that you and I are both still posting 6 to 7 years from now and can compare spas then.

I would like that very much.

[O-Ren_Ishi_I]

Ok, well here is the thing and I will compare it to this way... so that it makes sense...

The three models I am going to compare are high end "hotspring" = Envoy "marquis" = Epic and the "artic" = frontier legend extreme.  

I have wet tested the Epic so far and will be wet testing the other two this weekend, and honestly that will be the most important factor when making the final decision.  

But inherent diffrences that come out quickly.  

for me and my girlfriend the lounge seater is all important.  Why because we want to lounge and get therepy.  Right off the bat the Epic from Marquis was great because it had calf and thigh jets... HOWEVER, and a HUGE however, was that they don't all come on at once... I know it doesn't seem a big deal at first but it was annoying to me... the regular seaters were a good mix but it was like this big ole lounger didn't have any power behind it.  And the neck massagers on the epic where innovative too, I guess meaning the other two won't be having them.  But, alas they just weren't that powerful enough to notice they were really there.  And I wish they were a pulsing shot not just a straight shot of continuous water...

So, again, the lounger on the Epic wasn't that great overall AND the diffreential of the jets wasn't immpressive... I mean if you have 4 or 5 people in the spa it won't be that much fun because the jets really don't run all at once in enough areas IMHO.  To marquee another motor would fix this problem and the diffrentials and make this thing a runnaway purchase....
Oh and lastly I didn't like the siding at all... It isn't composite wood nor real wood but rather a thin looking vinal siding, and NO built in pillows...

which leads me to the ENVOY by Hotspring.  right off the bat they don't have calf or thigh jets at all... but from the marquis experience I really don't think it will make much difference because you can't get them all on at once anyway, meaning, hey, I could just change my seating.  But the dual Motomassage should be great and I say that because we tested a lower model but not the Envoy and I liked it, why?  because it gave a soothing and relaxing feeling of an ever changing position jet.  They might be hercules powerfull but the motion goes a long way IMHO.  the composite wood siding looks better then Epics and the lesser amount of jets should be a good thing because that in all accounts should mean they are a bit stronger.  Again, won't know till I wet test it this weekend.  

Now, on to the Ever so hyped ARTIC Frontier Luxury Extreme.  Now, I have to say I am choosing the "luxury Extreme" for the test because I some very serious considerations and purpose for the extra jets.  For one, it has a whole extra motor... but what one thing was wierd is that he said the spa was 270 GPM which seemed to be on the low end for such a strong and numbersome motor system.  perhaps he didn't have the proper stats for the extreme edition as opposed to the regular 2 motor edition.  I will dig further when I wet test.  Another plus is that this has an airrattor, or whatever it is called, you know the champagne bubbly thing that airs through spa.  This to me is a cool feature and is more of a relaxing thing than a therapy thing IMO...  worth having?  YES IMHO... Again, I haven't wet tested but the sell's person said that all the jets work as opposed to certain areas on the lounger... I hope this is true and I will be waiting for it, big plus to me if it does.  Lastly, the wood outter cover is beutiful to me and I dont' mind sealing it ever so often... We just built a buetiful deck and this will go oh so nicely rather than the silly fake wood... Composite would be good too but the natural to me looks better... Again, not options on the other two.  Lastly, and A negative right off the bat for my girlfriend and I are the tub color choices seem eehhhe ahhhhh... blahhhh not so nice but perhaps it will look differnt once we are there... We will try to see the pricing and where they will take it but when we are done wet testing I will come back to the post and let you guys and gals now truly how everything went....